Payback's A Witch
by SilverZelenia
Summary: She hadn't planned on revenge, initially. It was only when she found the wadded up picture in the bottom of her trunk that she had the idea. - James has pushed Lily over the edge with his latest prank, so she retaliates with an unlikely Charm. 7th Year Jily One-shot


**Payback's A Witch**

**1,437 Words**

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James Potter had crossed her for the last time.

He'd made a career out of annoying her, but this prank beat out all the others. It was the second week of Seventh Year, and Lily could almost feel steam shooting out of her ears, she was so mad. If the startled First Years that scurried out of her path the morning after were any indication, she had scared them quite badly when she had gone after Potter the previous night.

She had a plan, though, a plan that she was certain broke several school rules, but Lily was too mad to care. Potter probably thought she was just going to ignore him, as had been her philosophy the previous year, but that was his mistake.

She had been in a cheerful mood when she'd entered the common room, laughing at a joke one of her friend's had told. The four of them always left dinner early to enjoy a few moments of peace in the common room before the rest for their House arrived.

Marlene had let out a gasp, followed by the rest of the girls, as they took in the new decorations plastered on the walls.

They were a girl's underthings.

They were _Lily's _underthings.

She recognized them immediately, and her dorm mates obviously did as well. Lily's mouth had dropped into an 'O' shape; they were all so stunned that they didn't notice the footsteps coming up behind them until it was too late.

The rest of Gryffindor House had filed up the stairs, all absorbed in the own conversations, until a Fourth Year boy happened to look up and notice the new décor. The talking died down to quiet whispering, all but four boys and four girls wondering who the garments belonged to.

"Evening, ladies," A smug voice behind them said.

Lily whipped around, recognizing the voice immediately as _his._ Sure enough, there he was, looking quite pleased with himself. Black was standing beside him, arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Pettigrew was off to the side, watching her with a worried expression, and Remus was hunched by the backside of the Fat Lady's portrait, giving her a sympathetic look.

It was obvious they were responsible for this atrocity.

"You," She snarled, launching herself onto the messy-haired boy and shoving him against the wall.

A framed picture fell off the wall above Potter's head, shattering glass causing several younger students to scream, but Lily ignored them. Her right hand gripped her wand like a vice, pressing it into the fair skin under his chin, forcing his head up. Dorcas and Marlene were calling her name, telling her to calm down. Potter suddenly didn't look quite so smug anymore.

"Take them down. Now."

She pushed him, letting him turn and pull his wand out, but she kept her wand pressed into the small of his back; she could tell he was tense, most likely remembering the other times he'd pushed her far enough to hex him.

Potter muttered something under his breath. A sound like ripping paper filled the room, and her bras and knickers fell to the floor. Lily let her wand hand fall to her side as she headed for the girls' dorm, ignoring how the crowd parted for her.

"Look, Evans, I'm sorry. I didn't think you-"

The redhead turned around again, shutting the boy up with a venomous look. Her voice was calm when she spoke, which seemed to alarm the crowd more than her yelling had.

"Do not speak to me. Do not look at me. Do not acknowledge my presence in any way, shape or form. If you do, I can't promise you won't end up in the Hospital Wing."

The she was gone, up the stairs, collecting her stolen clothes with a quiet Accio. Her dorm was quiet without the normal laughter of her friends; they had filed silently up the stairs behind her, talking in quiet murmurs by Mary's bed. The discreet glances her way made it obvious they were talking about her, but, of course, the whole of Gryffindor was probably talking about her right now.

She hadn't planned on revenge, initially. It was only when she found the wadded up picture in the bottom of her trunk that she had the idea.

It was a Wizarding picture that Marlene had taken during a party at the end of Sixth Year, then jokingly sent to Lily over the summer. Potter and Black were the only two in the picture – and they were kissing. Lily remembered that night vividly, though she was perhaps one of very few who did, since most of her peers had been drunk.

Potter and Black had been part of a group playing Truth or Dare, when Dorcas dared them to snog. Both boys had downed so much Firewhiskey she was surprised they hadn't passed out, so of course they complied with Dorcas' request, much to the amusement of the partygoers.

Lily was certain neither of them remembered the incident.

A slow grin spread across the pretty girl's face as she smoothed out the wrinkles in the paper, watching as Potter tackled Black in an overly dramatic fashion. This was perfect.

The other three girls watched her warily as she went about her nightly routine, obviously waiting for her to explode.

"Lily? Are you… Are you okay?" Blonde-haired Dorcas asked hesitantly.

"Just perfect," Lily gave the three cautious girls a brilliant smile.

She had pulled the curtains on her four-poster shut without another word, thoughts of her plan bounding through her mind like rabbits.

Lily rose two days after the prank at the ungodly hour of four o'clock in the morning, pulling her uniform on as silently as possible. The sun had not yet risen when she tip-toed down the stairs, the picture of Potter and Black clenched in her fist.

The spell Lily was going to use was a domestic charm, a charm used to put up wallpaper. She hadn't had any use for the spell when she'd found it in an old Charms textbook, but now she was glad that she knew it.

Lily set the picture on a side table, quietly murmuring a multiplying spell until there was a large stack of copies of the picture sitting before her. Then she muttered the spell used for wallpaper, watching as the pictures floated up into the air and stuck themselves to the walls of the common room. The walls were covered in rows of the picture of the boys snogging, all of them moving in unison.

Her lips quirked into a smile, fingers carefully picking up the original picture and heading out through the portrait hole. Potter had kept his prank strictly to the common room, but Lily had bigger ambitions with hers.

She was going to cover the walls of every single room in the castle with the picture, a goal that made her very thankful that she had magic to do it with, otherwise it would take far too long.

As it was, it was six o'clock by the time she made it back to the common room, her original copy of the picture tucked safely into a pocket for safekeeping. Groups of boys and girls had migrated down into the common room and were laughing loudly at her handiwork.

"Lily!" Marlene's voice rang through the common room, her friend's dark head shoving through the crowd towards her.

"Morning, Mar," Lily grinned.

Marlene watched her suspiciously for a moment before her face broke out into a wide smile.

"I know it was you, you're the only one I sent that picture to."

Lily bit her lip.

"You don't think it's too mean, do you? I just – I was just so mad-"

"Lils, calm down, it's awesome, and they totally asked for it. I won't tell anyone it was you, promise."

"Okay," Lily smiled.

"So… How long is it supposed to last?"

"Well, I reinforced it with a Permanent Sticking Charm, so it will take the professors a while to reverse the magic."

"I love you, Lils. I really-" Marlene started, laughing, only to be drowned out by loud laughter from the crowd.

The Marauders had emerged, oblivious to the fact that the laughter was aimed at two of them.

"What's so funny?" Black demanded, only causing the crowd to laugh harder.

Then he noticed the picture, and his jaw fell even as he elbowed Potter and pointed upwards. The laughing continued as they stared at the picture in disbelief. Potter's eyes found hers, watching her for a moment.

Then he smiled at her.

Lily smiled back.

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